Delhi HC refuses stay on Agnipath scheme, asks Centre to file detailed reply

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought a detailed reply from the Centre on a group of pleas against Agnipath scheme while refusing to pass any interim order on the newly-launched scheme for the Armed Forces of the country.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma granted four weeks to the Centre for filing a detailed response in the matter and slated it for further hearing on October 18.

Refusing to pass any interim order, the bench, also comprising Justice Subramonium Prasad, said it will be hearing the matter finally.

During the course of the hearing, the court noted that the bunch of pleas are related to various issues of recruitment for various posts in the armed forces and said the Centre has to give the details in this regard.

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, on behalf of the Centre, apprised the court that a consolidated response would be filed in the matter.

The Supreme Court had recently transferred all the pleas challenging the Agnipath scheme to the Delhi High Court, where similar challenges against the scheme are already pending.

Last week, a former Army Colonel had approached the Delhi High Court seeking to set aside the Agnipath scheme of short-term recruitment into the armed forces and not to cancel the selection of the candidates who have already cleared the recruitment exam for the Indian Air Force in 2019.

Another PIL was moved in the Delhi High Court seeking the resumption of all previous recruitment processes cancelled following the Agnipath scheme.

The plea of a candidate, filed through Advocates Vijay Singh and Pawan Kumar, said the petitioner had applied for the post of Soldier General Duty in Army Recruitment Rally at Sirsa from July 30, 2020 to August 8, 2020.

Another PIL is against the Indian Navy’s recruitment process and shortlisting criteria of Person Below Officer Rank (PBORs).

A writ petition was filed by a group of persons shortlisted for airman selection in the Indian Air Force, who sought a direction that the recruitment process which commenced in the previous years should be completed regardless of the Agnipath scheme.